Remember that wacky outspoken goofball U.S. Congressman from Youngstown, Jim Traficant? Looks like he died in a strange sort of tractor accident yesterday or so. (Hard to imagine Traficant just expiring quietly in his sleep isn't it?)

Stu he was one of your runnin' around buddies back in the old days right?

"I have decided not to vote, speak in public, assemble in groups or petition my government either directly or by writing to the newspapers.

I think he probably spent more than a little time out in the field there wishing to get probed, but....

Funny thing - Jimbo liked to hang around at a restaurant that was my regular lunch spot for quite a few years, but we never actually met. He often had a Deputy of some sort with him, and I tended to know that guy. I also used to regularly eat with one of his Lieutenants and an older guy who was a Sergeant. The Lieutenant was close to the manager's son-in-law, and the Sergeant was distantly related to me.

Jimbo managed to get the County Commissioner's mad at him very early on, and they withheld funds from the Department in retaliation. I'm not sure if he was too corrupt, or not corrupt enough.... I got to hear some stories, though. (The last Sheriff was rather clean. I think his successor is, too. The last guy got stuck with some real winners when the then-current Sheriff went to jail. One, some years ago, had a convicted Felon on his staff, and I'm not talking overtime parking, either....)